Lulu the dog flunks out of CIA bomb-sniffer school

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Government agencies routinely make hiring and firing announcements, but a recent one from the CIA caught Gizmodo‘s eye.

A Twitter thread revealed the agency has laid off Lulu, a recruit in its K9 training program tasked with detecting explosives. Lulu, described in her CIA profile as being a “hyper and silly” black Lab with an “easygoing sweetness,” started “to show signs that she wasn’t interested in detecting explosive odors” not long after she started training.

The agency explains that dogs in this program often have an off day (or two), but that trainers can often figure out what’s wrong—maybe the pup just needs extra playtime or rest, or there’s a minor medical issue—and help the dog bounce back.

But for Lulu, it wasn’t temporary. “Even when motivated w food & play, she was clearly no longer enjoying herself,” the agency tweeted, noting they stopped Lulu’s training for her physical and mental health.

But if Lulu was suffering from existential ennui on the job, she’s apparently not now. A post on the CIA site explains that when a canine leaves the K9 training program, the dog’s handler can choose to adopt the pup. And that’s exactly what happened in the case of Lulu, who now appears to be living her best life frolicking with her handler’s children, “sniffing out rabbits and squirrels in the backyard,” and whiling away the hours with “Harry,” who appears to be another black Lab.

HuffPost notes the happiness that Lulu’s reboot is bringing to people online, with one commenter noting: “This thread is the best thing I’ve seen on Twitter in forever.” Interested in the CIA’s other dog trainees? The agency has an entire section on this year’s recruits (the agency’s first all-female class), which features their bios and details how they’re selected for the coveted K9 jobs.